


little wanderer

by stainedglassbirds



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Anxiety, F/F, Holding Hands, Pre-Canon, camilia has very gay thoughts @ eda, probably, theres a horrifying bird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26224423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stainedglassbirds/pseuds/stainedglassbirds
Summary: “We just— look, Eda, humans have evolved completely differently from… whatever you are.” She realizes she doesn’t actually know. “We don’t need magic to do anything, we’ve figured out other ways.”“Witch. I’m a witch.”“Witches aren’t real, where I live. Well, the type you are.”or:Camilia isn't having a good day. The universe decides to make it worse by dropping her in a completely different dimension
Relationships: Eda Clawthorne & Camilia Noceda, Eda Clawthorne/Camilia Noceda
Comments: 17
Kudos: 262





	little wanderer

**Author's Note:**

> things 2 keep in mind:
> 
> -camilia and eda are both teenagers, a bit before eda was cursed. if they seem ooc its because of that! eda is still baby
> 
> -camilia PROBABLY got into the demon realm thru something similar to the Door but just doesnt remember right now because... magic fuckery. honestly, not sure how she got here. also not sure how she leaves. just know those things happen

Camilia isn’t having a good day.  
  
Sometimes it happens. Sometimes you wake up, and you know it’s not going to be a good day, and you’re right, and it’s _frustrating._ It doesn’t happen often for her, but it’s not terribly difficult to get through it.  
  
Right now is a different circumstance, though. A very, very, different circumstance, and she’s still indulging in the idea she’s having some grand hallucination. She’s… somewhere. _Somewhere._ Very informative, she knows, but she doesn’t understand where she is or what’s even _happening._ _  
__  
_“Está bien,” she whispers, her brain still halfway frozen.  
  
She’s in a forest. The trees are bright red, orange, and some even a pinkish color, despite the fact it’s not fall. The grass matches with an unnatural orange color. The sky is _normal,_ looking relatively the same, except for the glaring fact it’s bright and clear, no storm cloud in sight when the promise of rain was _just_ there when she got home.  
  
Was she _kidnapped?_ Drugged, then dropped off… here? But _why?_ And that doesn’t explain the weird color of the grass, and how the trees show it’s fall when it’s definitely _spring._ _  
__  
_Hallucinating. She has to be.  
  
Except, the grass feels startlingly real under her hands as she scrunches it, and a soft breeze blows over her, and there’s the faint sound of wildlife, birds chirping in the distance. And she’s pretty sure hallucinations don’t work like this.  
  
Lucid dream doesn’t work either. Everything is too _sharp._ But, just to make sure, she pinches herself.  
  
“ _Ow,_ ” she hisses. Okay. Not a dream.  
  
On shaky legs, she slowly stands, clutching her arms. Another weird thing is that, despite the appearance of the forest suggesting fall, the air is warm like spring. A little uncomfortably so.  
  
She brushes out stray strands of grass from her shorts, their cool blue contrasting against the bright, warm colors of the forest. Her white, leaf-patterned shirt isn’t much better. She feels nervous at her lack of camouflage in such an unfamiliar place.  
  
A thought passes her mind.  
  
“No,” she says aloud, as if it’ll cast aside the inane idea. Her legs move without her input, pacing around in a circle. “I’m—I’m in a strange place. That’s okay. I just need to stay calm and figure this out, and get back home.”  
  
 _Does home exist here?_ _  
__  
_Yes. Yes it does, because she’s _not_ in some sort of parallel dimension, that’s just crazy. It’s not a logical conclusion at all, honestly the last thing her mind should go to.  
  
Her parents must be worried sick.  
  
She groans, pressing her head into her hands. How long has she been out? She’s definitely not in town anymore, and the day is sunny instead of shrouded with clouds. It could be days. It could be _weeks._ But, she’s wearing the same clothes, not dirtied at all, and her hair is still tightly formed into a ponytail, not any longer than usual. Her glasses aren’t smudged, no dust on them. And she isn’t feeling any pressing need for food or water. Surely it can’t have been that long?  
  
That doesn’t explain how she got all the way from her house to _here,_ though. Or where here even is.  
  
A bird interrupts her musings.  
  
At least, it looks like a bird at first glance. It lands on a branch on a tree close to her, chirping softly. Its four eyes blink at her. She freezes.  
  
Sharp teeth that _should not be there_ glisten in the sunlight, poking out from its beak. It’s eyes bore into her, and slowly it cracks its neck, tilting its head and spinning it in a circle as its wings unfurl and its feathers ripple as it changes, changes into something that is _not_ a bird and it _screams._ _  
__  
_She yelps, tripping over herself in her haste to get _away_ and scrambles up, running as fast as she can to get away from whatever that _thing_ is.  
  
Panic gives her the speed she needs and she runs and runs until her legs are burning and even then she keeps going, going until her chest is heaving and she can barely breathe, her insides clawing at her in a plea for her to stop.  
  
She listens.  
  
Her legs protest standing, bringing her crashing down onto the soft grass as she simply _breathes._  
  
Tears bead in her eyes, blurring her vision until the world is swimming in a mass of colors. When she feels she can move, she brings a shaky hand to her eyes, wiping away the tears harshly. Breaking down now isn’t going to help. She really wants to, though. She wants to stay here and cry and scream until she lets it all out because nothing makes _sense._ _  
__  
_That _thing_ wasn’t a bird, not anything that exists on Earth. The only explanation is that… she _isn’t_ on Earth. It’s insane, it doesn’t explain anything, but she doesn’t know what else to think anymore when that’s the only thing she has evidence for.  
  
What did she get herself into? _Why_ did the universe decide to do this to her? Did it? Does it care at all, or is she in a story not meant for her?  
  
“ _Hey!_ ”  
  
She jolts. That was a voice. A voice means a person, which means she’s not _alone._ Swiveling her head around, she desperately tries to find the owner of it, hoping to the world that this is someone friendly, someone who can help her, and not a possible kidnapper angry she escaped.  
  
She lets out a startled scream when someone’s face is suddenly in her personal space.  
  
“Woah— hey! It’s okay! It’s _okay!_ ”  
  
Camilia blinks, gasping for breath as she stares at the newcomer.  
  
They’re startlingly _pale._ In fact, she thinks they’re bright white, no hint of cream in their skin. Their bright, poofy orange hair curls around their face, complimenting the amber color of their eyes. Everything about them almost blends into the forest, them wearing a bright tank top with yellow flowers, and loose, dark red pants. Alongside their skin and eyes, their ears also imply them to not be human. They come to a sharp point instead of the usual roundness.  
  
Camilia belatedly realizes they have their hand outstretched. She accepts the offer, letting the stranger pull her up.  
  
They give her a toothy grin. “You good? You seem pretty jumpy.”  
  
“I…” Camilia knows it’s rude to leave her jaw hanging open, but she can’t help the reaction.  
  
They blink, frowning. “What? You’re not _actually_ scared of me, right? Oh, Lily would get a kick out of that—” they stop suddenly, eyes going wide as they stare at Camilia.  
  
Without warning, they grab her ears, examining them. Camilia swats their hands away, embarrassment heating her face. The stranger pays her no mind, still staring in awe. “Oh my Titan. I found a human. You’re a _human?!_ I thought they were a myth! I can’t believe it!” They grab Camilia’s hand, intently looking. “You guys actually cut off your claws—?”  
  
Camilia slaps their hands away again. “I—” she inhales, willing away the strangled note in her voice, “can you _please_ explain what’s going on, and who _are_ you?”  
  
“Oh! Right, right,” they nod. “I’m Eda! Nice to meet you, human.”  
  
“My _name_ is—” she pauses. Should she really be giving her name to someone she doesn’t know in possibly a different dimension? “...Cami,” she decides.  
  
Disorientation makes her head buzz, and she wants to scream at this stranger and beg for answers on how she got here, on what’s even going _on._ She doesn’t, instead slightly swaying, her skin burning. Did she die? Is this what the afterlife really is?  
  
Eda hums. “Cami the human.” Camilia doesn’t bother to correct her. “Cool! So how’d ya get here? I thought humans didn’t live here. Or _exist,_ ” she whispers like it’s a conspiracy.  
  
“I don’t know where here even _is,_ ” she snaps. “...Sorry. I’m really stressed out right now. I don’t know what’s going on, I’m _supposed_ to be safe at home right now, but instead I’m in this weird place that I don’t understand at all. I don’t… I don’t think I’m in the same dimension anymore,” she mutters. It feels so wrong to say. Her mind protests the very thought, but what other reason _is_ there?!  
  
...Calm down. It’s okay. It’s… not okay, but it will be.  
  
“Woah,” Eda breathes. “Another dimension… well, that’s no problem! I can just help you find a way back home.” She waves a hand, like it’ll be the easiest thing. Maybe it will be. Camilia doesn’t know the resources this world has.  
  
“Where are we?” she asks.  
  
“Let me show you.” Eda grabs her hand, her smile so genuine Camilia can’t find it in herself to pull away. The trees disperse as Eda leads her out of the forest, stopping just at the edge of an incline, overlooking…   
  
Camilia gasps.  
  
It’s the strangest place she’s ever seen in her life. A town is spread under her, dense with houses and people milling about on the streets. Various structures with teeth, horns, even _eyes_ greet her, and bones tower over the town.  
  
“This is _Bonesburough,_ ” Eda grins, gesturing across the town. “Me and my sister live around here, not in town, though. The islands themself is the _Boiling Isles,_ formed on the corpse of the Titan.”  
  
“This is…” Camilia swallows the lump in her throat. This is so _much._  
  
The first thing she processes is Eda’s mention of the Titan. She’s a little scared to know what that means. The idea that something so huge, something so old, could be what this place is made from, people living on the rotting corpse of an ancient being… it’s too much. What is she supposed to _do_ with this information? What is she supposed to do with the fact she truly is so far from home?  
  
Eda doesn’t seem to notice her distress. “Hey,” she leans over, looking at Camilia. “Is it true humans don’t have magic?”  
  
... _Magic_.  
  
A hysterical laugh leaves her mouth. “Magic. Magic exists. I—” she inhales, pressing a hand to her face. “Okay.” She takes a few deep breaths, anxiety choking her with a tight grip. “It’s fine. No, we don’t have… magic. Magic is a myth.”  
  
“Really? How do you guys get anything done?”  
  
“Without magic.”  
  
Eda furrows her brows. “That sounds lame.”  
  
She laughs. “I guess it is. We don’t have… any of _this._ No magic. No… four-eyed birds.” She shudders.  
  
“Oh, I _hate_ those birds. They know not to mess with me anymore, I gave ‘em a good _talk,_ ” she smirks, gesturing with a fist.  
  
“Are those… normal? Is there more things like it?” she asks, alarmed.  
  
Eda shrugs. “I don’t know what’s normal for you, but for us, yeah. It’s not all horrific monsters, though. The Boiling Isles is a really cool place. There’s a lot of things to do, even more to learn.” Her expression, curiously, goes sour.  
  
“What is it?” Camilia questions.  
  
“I don’t know what school is like for _you,_ ” Eda starts, “but mine kinda sucks. Well, it’s really great, but it doesn’t let you do more than one track for some dumb reason. I respect the coven and all, but that’s the one rule I don’t like. Can’t I just do what I want?”  
  
Camilia blinks. “Wait, can you go back? You just dropped a lot of things on me.”  
  
“Whoops. I keep forgetting you don’t know, like, anything.” Eda sits down, bringing Camilia with her. She realizes they’re still holding hands. Eda doesn’t seem to notice, or she just doesn’t care. “The tracks are different types of magic you can learn. There’s a lotta different covens, and when you join one as an adult, you can’t do any other type of magic. The only coven that can is the Emperor’s Coven. Me and Lily wanna join it.”  
  
“The only track we have is running,” Camilia mumbles. “So you don’t learn math? Or science? It’s all just… magic?”  
  
“We learn that stuff too, just with the magic. I’m on the _potions_ track. It’s cool, but it’s just potions. And then more potions. ...For the rest of your life.” Eda stares at her feet. “Which is _boring._ I _have_ managed to scrounge up a few books on magic, though, so I know some spells outside of my track,” she confesses proudly.  
  
“...Is that illegal?”  
  
“What? No!” Eda exclaims. Her face scrunches in thought. “Well… hm. ...No. I don’t think anyone would _approve_ of it, but it’s not like there’s any laws against it.”  
  
Camilia squints. “If you get arrested, don’t come to me.”  
  
“The law _wishes_ they could catch me,” Eda snickers. “Besides, you’d be no help against them, since you can’t do magic.”  
  
She feels weirdly offended. “I can be just as capable as you! Humans don’t _need_ magic.”  
  
“How have you guys not died yet? Or are you invincible, to make up for no magic?” Eda asks, partially genuine and partially sarcastic.  
  
“We just— look, Eda, humans have evolved completely differently from… whatever you are.” She realizes she doesn’t actually know. “We don’t need magic to do anything, we’ve figured out other ways.”  
  
“Witch. I’m a witch.”  
  
“Witches aren’t real, where I live. Well, the type you are.”  
  
Eda pauses, propping her head up with a fist. “...Hm. Do you have griffons? Fairies? Sphinx’s? ...Dragons?”  
  
“All myths.”  
  
“That’s weird. Weird how you guys know all that stuff, but they’re all fake in your dimension. Maybe you guys got those myths from us, ‘cept they actually exist here,” Eda suggests. “I don’t know a lot about humans. We get junk from your world sometimes, so maybe you guys got stuff from us.”  
  
Camilia remembers Eda's earlier comment about not thinking humans existed. She wonders if Eda was exaggerating, or that despite the fact she knew they got things from their world she still was unsure on the existence of Camilia's species. She supposes the skepticism makes sense when Eda's likely never even seen a picture of a human before. It is strange, though. They get stuff from her world? And the idea of it being a two-way street, one where human culture has unintentionally picked up things from the Boiling Isles… she and others have been so tied to a world she never knew even existed until now.  
  
“It… is weird. And the fact we both speak English…”   
  
“Well, sitting here doing nothing isn’t gonna get you home!” Eda drags Camilia up with her, stretching her unoccupied arm. “You can stay with me and Lily while we look for a way to get you home. Our house isn’t too far from here. I think you’d like Lily, you’re both all…” She gestures.  
  
Camilia doesn’t know what that means, but she’ll take Eda’s word for it. “Won’t your parents be upset? Or ask questions?”  
  
“Eh.”  
  
“That doesn’t answer my question,” she says, but lets it drop. She can’t find herself too upset with Eda’s vague response. She doesn’t know what Eda’s relationship with her parents is, or if Eda even has parents, but Camilia isn’t going to pry if it’s not going to affect her staying with Eda. It’s none of her business.  
  
“Let’s go, Cami!” Eda points dramatically, turning her heel and walking back into the forest. Camilia almost protests, not wanting to see any more birds, but lets herself be dragged along when she remembers Eda seems to be able to handle herself.  
  
“Is Lily your sister?” Camilia asks, struggling a little to keep up with Eda’s brisk pace.  
  
“Yep!” Eda pops the p. “She’s really cool. Kind, too. She’s always taking care of me, not that I need it, but she gets worried. It’s kinda nice having someone like that.”  
  
Camilia doesn’t have any siblings. She has a friend, though, that’s similar to what Eda describes. It is nice. “That’s good. I’m glad you have her,” she says sincerely, smiling. Eda smiles back, bright as ever, and Camilia realizes that just like the rest of her, it’s _warm_. Looking at Eda feels like looking at the sun.  
  
Her hands feel clammy.  
  
“So you're a witch? Is everyone a witch?” Camilia asks, grasping for a subject change.  
  
“Kind of. There’s witches and demons, but we both do magic, and everyones gotta join a coven. Oh— do you wanna see a demonstration?” Eda holds out a hand.  
  
“Um… sure?” Hopefully, it won’t kill her.  
  
Eda halts, Camilia nearly walking right into her. Eda, unbothered, draws a circle of light into the air. Then a _ball of flame_ bursts from it, shooting out and hitting a tree.  
  
It’s not like Camilia was still in denial over the prospect of magic, but there’s a difference between hearing it exists, and _seeing._ Something clicks in her brain and stutters at the same time, the pieces brought together but not formed correctly. Magic is _real._ She just saw someone perform actual, real, _magic._ _  
__  
_“Pretty cool, right?” Eda grins.  
  
Her mouth doesn’t want to cooperate. She opens and closes it a few times, until finally, something comes out. “...I. _Yeah._ It is.”  
  
What she finds the most amazing, though, is Eda.  
  
Today was not a good day. She isn’t sure how she feels about it now, but she does know that it’s a bit better having Eda with her. She can get through being in an entirely new dimension, as long as Eda keeps her hand in hers.  
  
It’ll be fine. They’ll figure out a way for her to get back home, together. 


End file.
